Apple unveil the iPhone 5S with fingerprint reader

Apple have announced the iPhone 5S, an upgrade to the iPhone 5. The new phone will run Apple’s new iOS 7 operating system and comes in silver, “space grey” and gold. The phone has a whole new 64-bit processor, the A7 chip which means iOS 7 and the built-in apps are all 64-bit optimised. According to Apple, the new A7 chip and the 64-bit operating system will equate to a 40 times bump in performance and a 65 times bump in graphics performance.

The iPhone 5S will be the first to feature Apple’s new M7 co-processor. It continually measures motion from accelerometer, compass, and gyroscope to enable next generation of health and fitness apps. The processor will be able to detect when you’re stationary, walking, running, driving etc and provide this information to apps via a new iOS 7 API.

According to Apple, the iPhone 5S will have 10 hours of 3G talk time and 10 hours of LTE browsing with up to 250 hours of standby time. Phill Schiller mentions it’s better than the iPhone 5 battery.

The phone includes a whole new camera system with a “a new, five-element Apple-designed lens”. Instead of packing in more pixels into the sensor, Apple are adding bigger pixels and the iOS 7 system will take advantage of the new sensor. The camera app will also automatically set the white balance, exposure and a “dynamic local tone map” to take the best photo.

An exciting new feature that Apple have announced is Touch ID – a fingerprint scanner built right into the home button. It’s 170 microns thin, senses up to 500 ppi, scans your sub-epidermal skin layers and can read your fingerprint in any orientation. You can also use your fingerprint to authenticate yourself for buying apps.

Apple have also produced premium leather cases which are available in beige, black, blue, brown, yellow and (RED) for a RRP of $48. The case has been designed with “luxurious” leather on the outside and has microfibre lining inside to keep your iPhone safe inside. According to Apple, the iPhone still feels “incredibly slim and elegant” in your hand with the case on.

The iPhone 5S will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants for $869, $999 and $1,129 respectively (AU pricing) through Apple Stores, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Apple resellers. The phone will be available to purchase on September 20 in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. It will be available in 100 countries through 270 carriers by December.